Utilization of hospital library by health workers in a tertiary health institution in Ilorin, Kwara State

Abstract

The task of providing quality health care services require the use of current health information; and hospital library seems to be the most appropriate source of organized and well articulated information for health workers. This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out between January and June 2003 to determine the use of hospital library by health workers at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital with a view to generating data that can be used to improve the services and make the library more user friendly to the health workers. Analysis of 280 questionnaires returned by consenting health workers selected through simple random sampling showed that 244(87%) of the respondents used the library, and a significant proportion of the Doctors were found to use the library facilities more than any group of health professionals (p value <0.05). Although reading of library textbooks was the commonest service often sought by the users (80%), reading of newspapers / magazines for recreational purpose was common among the health workers (65.6%). Most of the health workers 176(72%) felt that relevant / current textbooks were not available and 156(64%) said current journals were inadequate; while majority expressed difficulty in accessing Medline service, medical video cassettes and photocopiers in the library. Non-availability of the required services and lack of academic challenges that require using the hospital library were some of the excuses given by those who do not use the facility. The constraints facing the library users were mostly related to lack of current books and journals, poor Medline service and short hours of service during the weekend. There is a need to strengthen the hospital library by extending the hours of service to the users, subscribing to various medical journals and procurement of current and relevant books so that the operational goals and aspiration of the Teaching hospital in terms of quality service, teaching and research can be achieved through medical library.

Keywords: utilization, hospital library, health workers

The Tropical Journal of Health Sciences Vol. 12(1) 2005: 36-40